Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was Archduke of Austria from 1621, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and of Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 to his death. Ferdinand ascended the throne at the beginning of the last decade of the Thirty Years' War and introduced lenient policies to depart from the old ideas of divine rights under his father, as he had wished to end the war quickly. As the numerous battles had not resulted in sufficient military containment of the empire's Protestant enemies, and he was confronted with a decay of Imperial power, Ferdinand was compelled to abandon the political stances of his Habsburg predecessors in many respects to open the long road towards the much-delayed peace treaty. Although his authority among the princes was weakened after the war in Bohemia, Hungary and Austria, Ferdinand's position as sovereign was uncontested.Ferdinand was the first Habsburg monarch to be recognised as a musical composer. Source: Wikipedia (en)